BALTIMORE — President Biden is expected to sign the Inflation Reduction Act Tuesday.
The passing of the Democrats' health, climate and tax bill is seen as a major victory for the president months ahead of the mid-term elections in November.
Despite the name, it's not clear how it would reduce inflation but it is designed to make it easier for families to fight inflation with rebates, tax credits, and other benefits.
Inflation cooled off a bit to 8.5% in July from 9.1% in June, but inflation is still at 40-year highs.
President Biden and congressional democrats believe the Inflation Reduction Act or IRA, will help families fight inflation by lowering household costs as well as combat the climate crisis, reduce the deficit, and make the country's largest corporations pay their fair share in taxes.
It sets out to make the tax code fairer with a 15% tax on corporate profits to prevent corporations from being able to evade paying income tax.
In turn, the bill would help lower healthcare cost for families.
About five to seven million Medicare beneficiaries would see their prescription drug costs go down, while 50 million Americans with Medicare Part D would see their prescriptions capped at $2,000 a year.
The IRA will offer tax credits for clean energy or electric vehicles and $14,000 rebates for heat pumps or other energy efficient devices and supports powering homes with solar or wind.
Senator Chris Van Hollen says the average gas and electric bill in Maryland is $260 a month. He estimates the rebates and tax credits could help people save $750 a year on their utility bills or $7,500 over the course of 10 years.
Sen. Van Hollen said “a major obstacle or impediment for homeowners to make the improvements needed in their homes to make their homes more energy efficient is the upfront cost. We know there are tremendous savings to be had both in terms of reduced greenhouse gas emissions from making sure that we use our energy most efficiently after all energy wasted is money wasted.”
President Biden and his cabinet plan to hit the road next month and visit more than 20 states to promote the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act.
